Lake Rescue (6 page)

“I have no hiking boots,” Maeve said. “Help me look, Charlotte. You’re buying boots, aren’t you? I’m not sure what to get.”

Charlotte nodded. She hadn’t packed her old boots when they left Paris. She looked around. Where to start? The store must have a million styles. Methodically, she made her way up one aisle and down another. Nope. No way. Maybe. Too expensive. Not at all practical. Her father followed her, but he waited for her to pick out some to try on.

“I keep thinking of what we’d need if we were in Africa or Australia,” he said. “You will need shoes suited for climbing in the mountains. Then again, we haven’t planned next summer’s vacation. We could go someplace wonderful to hike. Like the Grand Canyon, or the Appalachian Trail.”

“That would be so fun, Dad. Start collecting information.” A trip with her father was always an adventure. “Will you teach summer school?”

“Not if I can work on my new book. How about these?” Her father pulled a pair of medium high-tops off the shelf. They were a nice combination of dark brown and tan. “Try them on.”

Charlotte sat on a chair and piled her collection of clothes next to her. Before she could get her shoes off, Maeve showed
up waving hot pink boots. “Look, Char, look! Aren’t these the best? Ms. Razzberry Pink will freak out when she sees them.” Maeve was a big fan of Think Pink!, Razzberry’s store for everything pink.

“Sit here by Charlotte and try them on, Maeve,” said Mr. Ramsey.

Once Maeve was wearing them, she jumped up and walked up and down the aisle. She looked in one floor mirror, then another.

“Does the sole feel very thick, Maeve? They don’t look as if they have lug soles at all, but flat ones. They might be a little slick walking in mud or rain. And I think your feet will get cold and wet quickly with so much canvas instead of leather on the sides.”

Mr. Ramsey made his argument against the pink boots without saying “no way will those work.” Maeve walked around a bit more. “I guess they are more for fun than for hiking. But they’re
so
Elle Woods.” Elle was one of Maeve’s favorite movie characters from one of her all-time favorite movies,
Legally Blonde
.

“Look at what I’m getting, Maeve.” Charlotte held up one foot. “What if you got something like this in charcoal gray and then replaced the shoelaces with some pink ones?”

Maeve tried on a pair of boots like Charlotte’s and walked around. “I see what your dad means. These feel much sturdier. But I hate being so practical. It’s just not my style.”

Mr. Ramsey disappeared, then showed up again holding a pair of hot pink shoelaces. “Look here, on the package.” He pointed to some writing that actually said, “Guaranteed not to be practical or even dorky.”

“Those are fabulous!” Maeve took the laces and placed them against the boots. “Thanks, Mr. Ramsey.”

Mr. Ramsey, Maeve, and Charlotte walked over to where Isabel and Katani were mesmerized by a book with lots of colored pictures…of snakes. Maeve looked over their shoulders. “Where are the New Hampshire snakes?”

Avery walked up behind them. “Most snakes are as afraid of you as you are of them. They get out of the way fast if they have time.” Avery spoke authoritatively. She knew a lot about snakes because she kept one, Walter, as a pet.

“That’s very true, Avery,” Mr. Ramsey concurred.

“I think you wear a bell,” Kelley said, hugging Mr. Bear tighter.

“No, that’s for bears,” Dillon Johnson interjected out of nowhere. “Did you get your bear bell, Maeve?”

“No, I plan to send you ahead on the trail.”

“Are you here alone?” Charlotte asked Dillon.

“I think Nick and Sammy went home already. I was on my way out when I heard a familiar shriek.”

“Okay, okay, don’t let us keep you from your mission.” Maeve turned around and headed for the warm clothing section as if seeing Dillon at the outdoor store was no big deal at all.

But Charlotte could guess how fast Maeve’s heart was beating as she walked away. Dillon caught up and acted as if he was going to stay with them until they finished shopping.

“Look,” he whispered to Maeve and the rest of the BSG who had caught up. “I think that’s a bear right up there in the coat department.”

“Dillon, that’s so mean,” Maeve scolded Dillon.

The “bear” Dillon had pointed out was Chelsea Briggs, trying to fit into a brown fleece coat in the juniors’ department of the sporting goods store.

Charlotte caught Chelsea’s eye. It was an uncomfortable moment. Charlotte felt terrible for her classmate’s predicament. Because the word “embarrassed” was her middle name, Charlotte wouldn’t wish public humiliation on her worst enemy. She began to quickly walk away hoping everyone would follow her. Isabel caught on, pulling Maeve in a different direction. Dillon followed, but not without looking back.

“No, I was wrong, that’s Chelsea Bigg.”

“That’s really mean, Dillon,” Maeve said, in a firm voice. “Let’s go, girls. We have shopping to do.” Dillon’s smile faded and he looked as if he’d been given the big brush-off, which, of course, he had. Fortunately, he took the hint.

Charlotte looked around and, to her dismay, found that her friends had turned into the children’s coats section.

“These are little kids’ coats,” Kelley said, not understanding why they had made the detour. “We are not little children, Charlotte Ramsey,” she said firmly. “We want to go over there.” She pointed toward where Chelsea and her mother were talking.

“It’s okay, Kelley,” Charlotte said, putting her arm around Kelley. “I went the wrong way. We’ll go the right way in just a minute. Do you think Mr. Bear needs a new coat?”

“No, his coat is warm.” Kelley laughed at her own joke.

“Mother, come on. I told you this wouldn’t work.” Chelsea’s voice, full of frustration, floated over the racks
toward where the BSG were trying to hide. “Nothing here is ever going to fit me. This is extra large. I’ll wear my old coat.”

“But it’s too small, too, Chelsea, and not nearly warm enough for a night outside near a lake. What if it rains? We could even have an early snow. I wanted to get you a new coat this fall anyway.”

“Okay, what do
you
suggest we do?”

Charlotte could hear the frustration in Chelsea’s voice. She sounded close to tears.

“We’ll go over to the boys’ section. They’ll have all the same styles, maybe just not the colors. Put that one back. Come on, it’s no big deal. You have to have a coat.”

There was no way the BSG could hide, no way for Chelsea not to see them, since the way to the boys’ and men’s coats was past the aisle of children’s coats right in front of where they were standing. All they could do was pretend they didn’t see her.

“Chelsea, hi, Chelsea.” Kelley knew Chelsea. Everyone at Abigail Adams school knew Kelley. A few really immature boys teased Kelley on occasion. But most of the kids looked out for her, helped her if she got lost, or lost Mr. Bear, which happened a lot, way too often. Unfortunately, Kelley didn’t realize that, at that moment, Chelsea wanted to be invisible.

Chelsea looked to see the BSG huddled in a tight group, looking rather foolish. “Hi, Kelley,” Chelsea said, then hurried to catch up with her mother.

“OMG,” Maeve said. “How embarrassing.”

“For who?” Charlotte pointed out. “Us or Chelsea Briggs?”

“What could we do?” Avery said. “Come on. I have to have a new coat.”

Those who were getting new fleece jackets went about their selections with less enthusiasm than they had for vests and boots and pink shoelaces. The jacket selection had been picked over and the colors were kind of drab. But Avery didn’t care, and Charlotte found a nice, cozy gray one. They finished their shopping quickly.

“We’ll stop at Village Fare and get pizza for the sleepover tonight. Okay with you, girls?” Mr. Ramsey asked.

“I guess no one wants anchovies?” Avery asked hopefully.

“No, Avery,” four girls said together.

“No one wants anchovies. But for you…half with anchovies,” added Charlotte.

The girls planned to meet at Charlotte’s in an hour. Katani, Isabel, Avery, and Maeve waved to Charlotte and Mr. Ramsey and jumped into Mrs. Summers’ car. As they drove off, a light rain began to fall.

Signed:

C
harlotte and her dad stopped at Village Fare on the way home and bought three different kinds of pizza. The fragrant smell of tomato sauce, yeasty bread dough, and pepperoni filled the car.

“Is that pizza I smell?” Miss Pierce, their landlady, stuck her head out of her door as they came in.

“Sure is.” Charlotte’s dad laughed. “We have plenty. Care to join us, Miss Pierce?”

“My nose says yes, but my stomach knows better.” Miss Pierce laughed. “Pizza is for young stomachs.”

“Or those of cast iron, like my dad’s.” Charlotte juggled two of the pizzas and her bag of school books, thinking she should have made two trips.

The Ramseys hadn’t done a major house cleaning since the last time the BSG came over for a sleepover, so Charlotte looked around to make sure things weren’t in too big a mess.

Charlotte and Marty waited for Katani, Maeve, Isabel,
and Avery on the porch swing. This was partly an excuse to be outside for a few minutes, and partly an opportunity to try out the new fleece coat. It was so warm and snuggly. Charlotte didn’t mind that it was gray. Katani could have the bright colors. She loved running her hands over the soft material, knowing it was going to be perfect for the outdoor camping adventure.

No moon and no sounds in the neighborhood, combined with a misty rain, created an atmosphere that made Charlotte shiver. Maybe this was what Lake Rescue would feel like at night—misty and mysterious. Marty jumped up beside her on the swing and looked at her as if to say, Is anything wrong?

“The only thing wrong is that if you put your muddy paws on my coat, you’re in serious trouble.” Leave it to Marty to destroy a spooky atmosphere.

Suddenly, four girls tumbled into the yard, pushing and shoving, laughing and squealing. They had walked over together. Mrs. Kaplan used to drive Maeve everywhere, to make sure she got places safely, but she didn’t have time now that she had started to work.

“What are you doing sitting out here in the rain?” Avery asked.

“Oh, just trying out my new coat.” Charlotte stood up and led the way into the big house.

“It’ll be perfect for sitting beside a roaring fire, telling ghost stories, while you’re all toasty warm yourself. I think it sounds very romantic.” Katani carried her suitcase up the broad staircase.

“I wouldn’t say you were exactly an expert on romance, Katani, lugging that big suitcase up these stairs instead of
floating down them in a satin ball gown,” Maeve teased. She couldn’t resist setting down her things and floating back to the bottom, just for practice in case she was ever in a movie that called for floating.

Avery zipped down the banister, squealing, then collapsed with laughter as she reached the bottom. “You know, Charlotte, you should get up fifteen minutes earlier every day and run up and down these stairs before school. You’d be in really good shape for the trip.”

“I’d rather just hike up a mountain…more interesting.” Charlotte hoped she would be in good enough shape to hike up the mountain at Lake Rescue. She hadn’t been hiking in so long.

The pizzas disappeared in a very short time. Marty sat back on his haunches and waved his front feet, begging for handouts.

“Charlotte, let’s go,” Avery said impatiently.

“Okay, Tower trek is on!” Charlotte had her own overnight bag packed so she wouldn’t have to keep running back and forth to her room.

“We’re ready.” Katani and Isabel led the way, followed by a barking, dancing Marty.

“What’s the program for tonight?” questioned Avery.

“I have a lot of items on my list, but mainly we have to choose what pajamas to wear for Pajama Day.”

Isabel agreed. “We’ve waited way too long. If Katani and I are going to make them, we have to pick something simple.”

The BSG had made the Tower into their special hangout. Since the Tower had only four window seats, and there were five BSG, Isabel had recently created her own space.
She hung a hoop from the ceiling and attached it to pieces of fabric that opened up into a flower. She had painted a beautiful compass rose on the floor with the names of all the BSG. Now the Tower was really complete, and the girls felt like it was their second home.

Charlotte had all her things in their usual places. After all, it was her house, and where she came most afternoons to write.

They arranged their sleeping bags and got into their pajamas. As soon as they settled down, Marty curled round and round and round, finally found a good spot, and nodded off. Avery, President of the BSG, cleared her throat and called the meeting to order: “I hereby call this official BSG meeting to order. Keeper of the Records…what is on tonight’s agenda?”

Maeve giggled at Avery’s serious voice and threw a pillow at her head. Charlotte ripped a piece of paper from her notebook and read aloud:

Tonight’s list of things we need to do:

“I still can’t believe that I am going on a camping trip,” Maeve said. “You’d think my mother would be soooo happy to have me stay home and study.”

“And you would be soooo bored, and wondering what we all were doing the entire time.” Avery laughed. “Think how much you’d miss us.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Maeve started twisting her hair into a hair clip. “Besides,” she said dramatically, “what would you even do without the redhead? I’ll stand out in the woods.”

“Will you ever,” said Avery, looking at Maeve in her bright pink nightgown and big fuzzy slippers.

“Personally,” Katani added, “I’m really looking forward to spending quality time with the Queens of Mean in scenic New Hampshire. Do you think they like fishing, camping, climbing mountains, or hanging out on the hard, cold, rocky ground? I can just hear Anna and Joline’s whines now.”

“Maybe we can play tricks on the boys…I’ve thought of a dozen so far,” said Avery.

Charlotte listened for a little while, a warm glow of anticipation growing inside. She was ready to leave tomorrow, or at least Monday. She wasn’t sure what to expect on her first big junior high trip, but that was part of the fun. After all, anything was possible on an adventure, she reminded herself.

“We’d better do first things first. Pajamas. Any ideas?” asked Katani.

“Definitely not silky stuff like what Maeve and Katani are wearing right now,” Avery said. “Too cheesy.”

“Oh, Avery, I suppose you’d like a one-piece flannel p.j. number with feet.” Katani stood up and modeled the new peach-colored nightgown she’d designed and sewn the week before.

“What’s wrong with flannel? We’re wearing them to school, remember?” Avery was wearing flannel with stripes. Flannel was so practical and snuggly.

“Over our clothes,” Isabel added. “We’ll have to make them a little bigger than our sizes.”

“Stripes!” Maeve squealed. “I have an idea. Let’s make flannel pjs with black stripes like one of those old prisoner uniforms.”

Since Maeve had lived all her life over the Movie House, she had seen practically every movie ever made. Sometimes her movie information came in handy, or made for interesting bedtime stories.

Everyone stared at Maeve for a couple of beats, then started to laugh. “That would be unique,” Avery said. “We might even win one of the prizes.”

“Hey, let’s wear signs on our backs. Like, THIS SCHOOL IS A PRISON,” added Avery. She printed the sign ideas on their chalkboard.

“HELP US ESCAPE THE BIG HOUSE.” Maeve giggled. “They called prison ‘the big house’ in really old movies.”

“ONLY FIVE YEARS LEFT IN MY SENTENCE.” Isabel counted on her fingers. “Eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth. That’s five.”

“And more than half of this year left.” Avery took a drink from the bottled water she pulled from her bag.

“What if we chained ourselves together like a chain gang?” Maeve was thinking. “
The Defiant Ones
with Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis had them chained together. They escaped that way, and they hated each other, but because they had to work together to escape they became friends.”

“Maeve, do you really think we could get through a whole day all chained together?” Avery fell over laughing and pretty soon everyone was thinking of bad-case scenarios.

“Charlotte would trip in the cafeteria and we’d all fall,
dumping food on hundreds of unsuspecting diners,” Katani teased gently.

“No one would be unsuspecting if I was in the chain gang. They’d be watching us the entire time we were trying to walk to a table.” Charlotte could laugh at herself by now. After all, her now-famous disaster ultimately led to her having three new friends, now grown to four.

“If Maeve fell off the climbing ropes again, she’d pull us all down with her.”

“Yeah, Dillon wouldn’t be able to save us all.”

“What about this? How many girls can you fit in front of a mirror to reapply lip gloss?” asked Katani, hands on hips.

The last idea topped all the funny pictures and put an end to any possibility of a chain gang.

“But, hey, what about this?” Avery said. “I’ll bet I can find black balloons at Party Favors. You know, like we’re each fastened to a ball and chain.”

“A paper chain would break.” Katani thought for a second. “I know. We can make chains from black electric tape and tape the balloons to our socks.”

“Great idea,” Isabel said, laughing.

“Okay, is everyone in favor of prison pajamas?” Charlotte asked.

“Sure,” everyone agreed. “It’s a really funny idea,” Katani said.

“And let’s take the pajamas with us to camp. They’ll be warm if we get flannel,” Avery added.

“Next agenda item?” Charlotte moved onto her sleeping bag, tired of standing by the chalkboard.

Maeve started brushing Isabel’s long, black hair. “Can
you believe that Chelsea Briggs couldn’t fit into any of the coats in the juniors’ section of the sporting-goods store?”

“I felt kind of sorry for her, having us see her go to the boys’ department,” Charlotte added. “It must be hard to be that heavy.”

“Why doesn’t she lose some weight?” Avery suggested. “Maybe if she got more exercise, she could get in shape.”

“Or tried eating less,” Maeve said.

“I wonder if she can handle the ropes course at the camp,” Avery said. “If she’s out of shape, she probably won’t be able to lift her own weight.”

“We shouldn’t be talking about someone’s weight,” Katani said. “It’s kind of mean and it’s really none of our business. We don’t even know why she is overweight anyway.”

“It might be important if she was your partner or something. You know how they keep saying this camp is to teach us to work together.” Avery thought about it. “What if she started slipping off the ropes and I was her partner? Besides, people talk about my being short all the time. What’s the difference if we talk about her? No one is hearing us.”

“Being short and being fat are two really different things, Avery.” Maeve got out some new body lotion and shook it. “I was kind of chubby in the fourth grade. People called me mudgy, pudgy Maeve.” Maeve blew out her cheeks, stood up and wobbled around as if she was too heavy to stand up.

She was such a good actress, no one could keep from laughing.

“What happened?” Isabel asked.

“I grew four inches overnight. I guess it was baby fat. It went away. But I’ll tell you, I didn’t like the name-calling one
bit. It totally hurt my feelings, and I can still remember crying about it to my mom.”

“Well,” said Isabel sympathetically, “Just think about Chelsea. Her weight’s still there. She probably feels really bad sometimes.”

The idea of Maeve ever being chubby was hard to imagine, but Charlotte didn’t feel comfortable talking about Chelsea Briggs any more. Chelsea was nice to work with and she was glad when Avery changed the subject.

“Who’s going to walk Marty while we’re gone?” Avery had let the little dog curl in her lap. Now she picked him up and rubbed noses with him. He was too sleepy to protest or even show off. “Did everyone give Marty a piece of pizza?” she asked. “Dogs shouldn’t have that much people food.”

“Hey, pizza is a major food group,” Charlotte said. “I wish we’d left some for a midnight snack.”

Maeve had a suggestion. “How about we ask Razzberry Pink to take Marty for a walk with La Fanny…Marty loves that poodle. He thinks she is his girlfriend.” She waved her left hand covered with new raspberry swirl nail polish. The sweet pungent scent surrounded them.

“I have to open the window, Maeve. That stuff smells like poison,” Avery coughed.

“Never mind, I’m done.” Maeve put her polish away.

“Maybe Dad can take him to classes at the university,” Charlotte decided. “He’s done that before when he doesn’t have to work in the library. The students love Marty almost as much as we do. They play Frisbee with him.”

A long week, filled with schoolwork and news about the camping trip and Pajama Day, not to mention the cozy warm
Tower room and stomachs full of pizza, began to get to the usually energetic girls.

They talked a little about what they were going to pack for camp, but soon their voices trailed off.

Charlotte had put on one of their favorite CDs—the Beatles Greatest Hits, which belonged to her father. Within a few minutes, Paul McCartney’s “Hey, Jude” was singing them to sleep.

Soft sobbing from Isabel brought them awake again.

“Isabel, is that you crying?” Katani asked. “What’s the matter?”

“Oh, I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.” Isabel sat up and rubbed her eyes with a tissue.

“Is your mother worse?” asked Maeve.

“Oh, no, in fact, she’s much better. Moving here, working with the new doctors has helped her so much. I—I—”

“You can tell us, Isabel.” Charlotte moved around and put her arm around Isabel’s shoulder. “We’ll try to help if we can.”

“It’s my cartoon.”

“Your cartoon? The one you drew for this week’s newspaper?” Charlotte asked. “You said you turned it in.”

“I did. That’s the problem. I didn’t mean anything by it. It was before—before—”

“Before what?” Avery was fully awake now and a little impatient.